A Little Harmless Secret

by Melissa Schroeder

“Mummy,” Bridget yelled, a laugh bubbling out of her throat. “There you are.”

  As she ran toward them, her hair flew behind her. Innocent abandonment. Not matter how irritated he was with Ali not telling him about Bridget, he knew she had done an excellent job on raising their daughter. Even after everything they had been through in the last couple of days, Bridget looked fearless.

  She launched herself at Ali, who caught her without blinking an eye. He’d watched Dee learn the ins and outs of parenthood and knew it was an acquired skill. Especially without a full cup of coffee.

  “Of course, I’m right here.” She set the girl on her feet then smiled. “Did you have good dreams?”

  “Yes. Lots.” She looked at Devon. “Good morning.”

  He nodded and tried to think of something to say. It was all still too new to him. In the end, he did nothing more than smile.

  “Did you use the potty?” Ali asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Hungry?”

  “Yes!” Then she turned and ran into the house. Devon looked at Ali, who shook her head.

  “Is she always like this in the morning?” Devon asked.

  “Yes. Even when she was a baby. She was always an early riser. And a happy one. It was very hard to deal with.”

  He chuckled as he stood and followed Ali into the house in search of their daughter.

  Their daughter.

  He still didn’t know what to say about that. Or feel. She’d kept his daughter from him, but there had been extenuating circumstances.

  “Do you think Mr. Stryker has waffles?”

  “I’m not sure, because I asked him to get us oatmeal.”

  Bridget frowned. “I really want waffles.”

  Ali laughed again. “Okay, but I am not sure he has them, so you have to ask him. Nicely.”

  Bridget looked around her mother and smiled at him. Two little dimples winked at him. She was such a delightful mixture of both their features. Her joyous spirit reminded him of Dee. And she was his.

  The air backed up in his lungs as his head spun.

  “Devon,” Ali said, turning to face him. She was frowning. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded, but the room started to revolve. She walked over to him and touched his arm.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t need waffles,” Bridget said; rushing forward, worry darkening her blue eyes.

  He shook his head. “You can have waffles. I keep some frozen ones for when Alana spends the night. They’re in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator.”

  Bridget smiled.

  He looked at Ali, who had an understanding expression on her face. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Devon nodded. Then sat at the breakfast bar. Ali looked at him for a moment longer, but Bridget demanded attention and she turned to help her daughter. They giggled and chatted. Devon sat there, with the morning sun streaming into the kitchen, and enjoyed the view of his child and her mother interacting.

  * * * *

  Alicia watched Devon as he and Bridget sat together eating breakfast. She knew he had been stunned by something before, but she didn’t have the heart to grill him. The bare emotion she had witnessed told her all she needed to know. Devon wasn’t a threat, never had been. And she had kept his daughter from him.

  “Mummy, is there something wrong?” Bridget asked.

  Devon turned to look at her. Dammit. The love of her life was just too perceptive for a four-year-old. Considering her parents, it wasn’t something that should have surprised her, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with.

  “I’m fine, poppet. I think I have some jet lag.”

  “What’s that?”

  “When you travel, sometimes you don’t feel that well for a few days.”

  “Oh.” She went back to eating her breakfast.

  “Are you sure?” Devon asked.

  She nodded and went to pour herself another cup of coffee.

  “So, what do you do for a job?” Bridget asked.

  “I invent games.”

  “Do you mean like Chutes and Ladders and Candyland?”

  “In a way. But I do them on the computer.”

  “I like the computer, but Mummy only lets me stay on it for a little bit. She says it will rot my brain.”

  The last part was interjected with Bridget’s impression of her mother’s accent. Her face heated.

  “Is that a fact?” he asked.

  “Yes. She says observ…what do you call it, Mummy?”

  She turned and faced the two of them. Devon was smiling.

  “Yes, what do you call it, Mummy?”

  Bridget giggled. “She’s not your mummy.”

  “He’s just being silly, Bridget.”

  “You still haven’t answered the question,” Devon said.

  “Observation.”

  “That’s right,” Bridget said around a mouth full of waffles. “Mummy says that is more important to develop than sitting at a computer playing stupid games.”

  Devon looked like he was trying his best not to laugh. “Oh, is that a fact?”

  “Yes.”

  He looked at Alicia, that sexy smile curving his lips, and she blinked. Her body felt as if it were on fire. All of the sudden, images of that smile as he looked down on her while they’d been in bed came rushing back to her. Her face turned even hotter.

  “I have to agree with your mother, kid. Observing is definitely better than the imagination sometimes.”

  Dammit. He was making her hot and bothered just by looking at her. His gaze swept over her body, and she could swear it felt as if he touched her. And in front of her daughter.

  She crossed her arms over her breasts. “I was thinking we could pick up a swimsuit today for Bridget.”

  Some of his humor faded. “Sorry, but we have a meeting with Conner this morning. You know, I could probably call Dee and she could pick you something up.”

  Alicia wanted to argue with him, but she knew it was probably for the best. It was hard for her to accept, but she was going to be forced to rely on other people. She nodded.

  “If we are going to have a meeting, I better make myself presentable. Are you done, poppet?”

  “I can keep an eye on her.”

  She hesitated, not because she didn’t trust him, but because she wasn’t quite sure he knew what he was getting into.

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “I’ve handled Alana and she is a handful, so I am pretty sure I can handle Bridget.”

  “Okay. Tell you what,” she said to Bridget. “Why don’t we go upstairs and you can get dressed? Then you can meet Devon back down here.”

  “Okay.” She turned to look at Devon. “I’ll be right back.”

  He stood and helped her down. As they walked away, Alicia knew he watched them. She could feel his gaze boring into her back. But, for the first time in a long time, she felt comforted by the attention. It had been a long time since she’d had someone watch her back.

  * * * *

  Devon grabbed his fishing pole as he and Bridget walked out onto the lanai. Before moving to Hawaii, he had never really fished. Being the geek he was, he didn’t spend a lot of time outdoors. He’d found the pole at the house one day and spent time on the dock. He hadn’t caught a thing, but it had given him time to think out a problem with a new program he was working on.

  “Are there a lot of fish in the water?” Bridget asked.

  “Not sure. I don’t catch much.”

  “Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed. “I hope Dee comes soon with my new bathing suit. I really like to swim.”

  He nodded as they walked side by side down the dock. He helped her sit down, then took the spot next to her.

  “Dee said she would be here soon, and I think there is a good chance Alana is coming with her.”

  “Yay. I don’t get to spend much time with other girls.”

  He would love to read Ali the riot act about that, but considering the situation, there was a reason. She had been do
ing everything right to keep their daughter safe.

  “So, what do you do to fish?”

  He smiled down at her, then turned his attention to the pole. He set it in the water.

  “This is it.”

  Bridget said nothing for a few minutes. He had a few nibbles, but nothing really came up and took hold.

  He looked at Bridget, who was scanning the area. She looked so much like her mother at that moment it was a bit uncanny.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Looking. I might not get to stay here long and I want to remember it all.”

  That seemed a little mature for her age, but there was a good chance she had a near genius IQ. Plus, living with someone who was hyper conscious of her surroundings probably caused Bridget to be a little more observant.

  “I’ll tell you what.”

  “What?”

  “You can come back here anytime you want. You and your mommy.”

  The moment the words were out of his mouth, he realized how true they were. He did want a relationship, especially with his daughter. Her mother…he wasn’t sure of that yet.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Sure, I have more than enough—oof.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

  “I would love that more than anything.”

  “So, you like Hawaii now?”

  She leaned back. “Yes, and Alana and you.”

  He blinked and realized his eyes were burning. She was smiling, at him, that big grin and right then and just like that, his heart tumbled out of his chest and fell with a splat against the dock. He brushed his hand over golden hair, realizing he had just fallen in love with his little girl.

  * * * *

  Alicia watched the scene out at the dock. She was too far away to hear what they were saying, but she knew it had been important. Each moment longer they spent with Devon, the more attached he was getting to their daughter. She waited for the panic to set in. Since birth, she had kept Bridget a secret from everyone in her life, even her cousin Millie. She thought it would be best not to let anyone know there was the most precious piece of her running around in the world. If they had killed her father, they wouldn’t hesitate killing Bridget.

  She forced herself away from the window and tried to get her thoughts in order for the meeting. It wouldn’t do to look like an idiot in front of Devon and Conner.

  She pulled off her shorts and shirt, then grabbed the one sundress she had with her. After slipping it on, she looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She looked like hell. She might have had a decent amount of sleep the night before, but no amount of rest could erase the fine lines of worry on her forehead. This life on the run was aging her more every day.

  She ran a hand through her hair and tried to calm raw nerves. Being in peril was her main issue, which was a definite. Seeing Devon again…that was just making it even worse. The conflicting emotions she had during breakfast and just now made it hard to concentrate. She wanted this done with so she could decide what to do about the man who had always tangled her up.

  She had to get her head screwed on straight. If she didn’t keep her wits about her, there was a really good chance that she would miss something. From the start of all her troubles, she had known there was something off about the whole situation. Her father always confided in her. Always. They never hid anything from each other, but for some reason, he had done that with this case. She knew he trusted her, so there had to be an aspect he didn’t want her to know.

  What was his involvement?

  Before she could work through her thoughts, there was a soft knock at the door. Then it opened and Bridget’s head popped through the crack.

  “Mummy, Dev says it’s time for the meeting.”

  “Dev is it now?”

  Bridget smiled and walked across the room. “That’s what everyone else calls him, and he said I could call him that. It’s okay, right?”

  “If he said so, then it is. You’re going to have to stay here while I have this meeting, but there are a lot of toys in your room. Will you be okay up here?”

  Bridget smiled. “Yes.”

  Without a thought, her daughter turned and ran to the other room. Alicia was chuckling when she turned to look at herself one more time in the mirror. She ran her hands down the front of her dress then realized she was stalling. The sooner she talked to them, the sooner this might be resolved.

  As she walked down the stairs, she heard the low murmur of male voices. Then, there was a female voice she recognized. She stepped off the last stair, and made her way to the living area that opened up to the back lanai.

  The first person she saw was Dee. Devon’s sister turned and smiled. “Hey, there, Ali. I got a couple suits that might work for Bridget and I thought I would come over to help with Bridget. Plus, Alana here was wanting to play today and I thought they would wear themselves out.”

  Bridget laughed. “Spoken like a true mother. She’s upstairs. I’ll go get her.”

  “I know where. You stay here.” Alicia gave her a grateful smile as she watched Dee try to keep up with her daughter.

  “Alicia Hughes as I live and breathe.”

  She turned toward the sound of the voice and laughed. A vision from her past stepped forward. He was dressed in a custom made suit, no tie—of course, and he had the same smirk she remembered from ten years earlier.

  “Sean?”

  He came to her as he always did and gave her a huge hug, picking her off the ground. By the time he set her on her feet, Devon was standing beside the two of them.

  “I take it you two know each other.”

  Sean smiled but didn’t take his gaze from hers. “Yes. Alicia here and I worked a few jobs together. And when did you get rid of the blonde?”

  “Oh pooh. You worked with my father. I was just along to observe.”

  One elegant eyebrow rose. “I think you did a little more than that.” He looked up at her hair. “When did you go brunette?”

  “Three or four years ago.”

  Sean studied her. “I like it.”

  “My life is now complete that I got your approval,” she said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her tone.

  Sean smiled.

  “And is there a reason you seem to need to keep your hands on her waist?”

  She finally looked at Devon and frowned at him. She opened her mouth, but Sean just chuckled. “No worries, Stryker.”

  “I didn’t know you’d moved back here. I heard you were working privately.”

  “Now that you two have had time to catch up, I assume I’m here for a reason.”

  She turned and realized Conner Dillon was there. “Sorry. It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Dillon.”

  “Please call me Conner, and the honor is all mine.”

  “Yeah, Conner here has a security crush on you,” Sean said, slinging one arm over her shoulder.

  “What?”

  “Your designs. His heart went all aflutter over them.”

  “Oh, well, most of that my father taught me.”

  Conner didn’t exactly smile, but she had the impression that he was amused. “What I want to know is just how they found you in Seattle and broke through all those wonderful designs to keep you safe?”

  “I would like to know that, but I had been there over two years. Maybe I stayed too long.”

  He shook his head. “Is there anything you changed in the last few weeks, something that would draw attention to you?”

  “No. Same routine, nothing different except…”

  She trailed off and glanced at Devon.

  His face looked like it was made of stone, then his jaw flexed. He was grinding his teeth. “Me. I’m the only factor that changed in your life in the last few weeks. Shit, I probably led them right to you.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  As they gathered around the table, Devon fumed silently, but not only because that big, stupid spy wouldn’t take his fucking hands off Ali. Most of it was
directed at himself. He couldn’t believe he was acting like such an ass about this. Kaheaku was an old friend of her family. What’s more, he’d come to help. And now, dammit, he still wanted to beat the living shit out of Kaheaku. Instead of doing that, he concentrated on what was happening around the table.

  Even dressed in a pair of shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, Conner still looked like an FBI agent. Short cropped hair, the perfect posture, not to mention the lean hungry gaze, made him appear to still be working for the FBI. He pulled out his computer and started to discuss what little he’d been able to find out.

  “I don’t have your computer skills, but I pulled in Maura to work on it.”

  There was something in his voice that Devon picked up on. “Pulled her in?”

  Conner’s lips twitched. “Well, she pointed out that she’s smarter than I am. Several times in fact.”

  Ali chuckled. “I think that’s why Maura and I get along so well.”

  “You’re both smarter than Conner?” Kaheaku said.

  Ali shook her head. “No, we don’t give a bloody damn about men’s egos.”

  “Anyway,” Conner said, “I can’t seem to find any connection between you and Walter Hughes. I went through everything you gave me, and Maura played outside the lines. Nothing. There is nothing that either of you worked on, officially.”

  “But I do know that my father was looking for him.” She looked at Kaheaku. “You know how he would get.”

  Sean nodded. “Walter could become obsessed over something. And it didn’t always have to be about work. Remember when Facebook started? Walter spent weeks on there.”

  “On Facebook?” Devon asked.

  Ali nodded and a smile curved her lips. “Only in the interest of research. He found it fascinating that so many people would reveal even the most personal things online. Anyone could see it. Where they lived, what they were doing…it was actually a little disturbing to him.”

  “Yeah, I remember that,” Kaheaku said. “I think he was the first person in the industry to write up a memo about it. Breaches in security were bad enough, but with the invention of social media, so many people never gave posting what looked like useless information online a second thought. It has been a nightmare.”

  “But to get back to the discussion, Ali said. “Father was looking for Devon, but I still don’t know why. He was obsessed with it like he always would get, but this was different. Almost unorganized and desperate.”